Tablet Phone: July 2014

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited is limited; it’s missing 5 major publishers – Triangle Business Journal (blog)

Enlarge Photo

Titles published by the Big 5 publishing houses are not available on Amazon’s new Kindle Unlimited plan. Jeff Bezos is Amazon CEO.

Rachel Lerman: Staff Writer- Puget Sound Business Journal; Email | Twitter

Hundreds of thousands of books are accessible under Amazon's new virtual library card, but some of the top sellers are missing.

Titles of the five biggest publishers — HarperCollins, Hachette, Simon & Schuster, Penguin Random House and Macmillan — are not available.

Amazon's ongoing battle with Hachette seems to have branched out to the other major publishers as well, as they realize Amazon's low-cost e-publishing is attractive to many independent authors as well as customers.

Read: As Amazon rolls out Kindle Unlimited, Wilmington’s ‘Netflix for e-books’ readies for battle

It remains to be seen how many customers will sign up for Kindle Unlimited with so many notable books missing. The Big 5, which have their own critics, and Amazon don't seem to be making any effort to play nice with each other.

Representatives from HarperCollins, Hachette and Simon & Schuster confirmed the companies are not participating, the New York Times reports. Penguin Random House and Macmillan declined to comment.

Some authors publish their books under multiple publishing houses, so some titles will still be available. And thousands of books published by smaller houses and Amazon itself are online.

Amazon revealed the Kindle Unlimited plan Friday. It works like a Netflix for books – customers can pay $ 9.99 per month and read as many as they want of the 600,000 titles available, including some audiobooks.

It's similar to an (expensive) library card, though Amazon promises there won’t be any overdue charges.

Lobby group Author Earnings said in a report released this month that 31 percent of e-book sales on Amazon come from self-published authors.

Rachel Lerman covers technology and retail for the Puget Sound Business Journal.

Industries:

Technology, Retailing & Restaurants

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Enemies Trilogy Free on Kindle Through Wednesday – AmmoLand.com (press release)

Enemies Trilogy Free on Kindle Through WednesdayReviewed by Dean Weingarten on Jul 14Rating: 5.0The popular “Enemies” trilogy is available on Kindle, free, here. Brackens foresight seemed uncanny when he wrote them. Now, we seem to be living them.

By Dean Weingarten

Enemies Trilogy

Dean Weingarten

Arizona - -(Ammoland.com)- The popular "Enemies" trilogy is available on Kindle, free, here.

The Matt Bracken trilogy are action adventure novels set in a dystopic future where the second amendment has been effectively eliminated in the United States. I found them hard to put down. Best to start reading on a Friday night.

They are available free through Wednesday, 16 July. If you go to the link, you will see the Kindle edition listed as 0.00 to buy.

They are well worth a read. Often, his books seem to be nearly prophetic. Many of today's events were foreshadowed in the novels.

Here is my review of Enemies Foreign and Domestic, written in September of 2003:

I received my copy of Enemies Foreign And Domestic on Tuesday evening last week. By Thursday morning, I had devoured the 568 pages. This book was eagerly awaited, as it belongs to that small but growing genre, the dystopic future brought about by civil war over the Constitution of the United States, triggered by ruthless suppression of the 2nd amendment.

Only three books of this genre have received prominence. They are: The Turner Diaries, a racist, hate filled account where the "heroes" are willing to kill off 75% of the people on earth in order to gain political power; Unintended Consequences, a well written, racy, techno-thriller in the Tom Clancy style that I heartily recommend, and Enemies Foreign and Domestic, or EFAD, as I will refer to it in the rest of this review.

EFAD refers to part of the oath that all U.S. government officials and military personnel take upon the assumption of their duties to defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. A basic premise of the book is that there still are men and women who actually have honor and integrity, who believe these words when they speak them, and who actively work to follow their oath.

EFAD is very well written, well plotted, and has good character development. I felt as if I could name friends and enemies who could have been the characters in the book. This book grabs you. The major premises are easily believable. Matthew Bracken knows his subject, and he uses credible human faults and errors to keep the plot plausible. A major strength is that there are no supermen or superwomen in this book. Matthew teaches us subtly by the things that are not mentioned. An astute reader will realize early on that we are at a crucial cross roads. We can move backward, keep the Assault Weapons ban, enlarge it, outlaw private sales of weapons via the "gun show loophole" and continue the march toward the chilling dystopia that the author so clearly sees. Or we can move forward, sunset the Assault Weapon ban in September of 2004, and continue to move forward to a renewed era of Constitutional freedom in America.

Read this book. Pass it on to friends. Distribute it at gun shows. Buy lots of copies. I will.

I have done those things over the last 10 years. Now you can get the whole trilogy for free on Kindle.

Again, here is the link to Amazon where you can get the Kindle editions for free.
c2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included. Link to Gun Watch

About Dean Weingarten;

Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of constitutional carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and recently retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.

Now, Try-and-Buy Offer on Kindle for Indians – Indiatimes.com

by Rutu Ladage , IndiaTimes | July 14, 2014, 12:00 pm IST

Kindle Paperwhite

Kindle, the world’s favourite e-reader is yet to catch up on in India. Though it is definitely popular among the reading enthusiasts, smartphones and phone apps still take preference when it comes to reading ebooks. Kindle now wants to dispel the habit and take over the Indian market, slowly awakening to experimenting with gadgets other than smartphones.

In a bid to advertise and promote their e-reader, Amazon is offering the latest generation Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle6 at a try and buy offer. Launched on July 8th, the offer will run till July 23rd. Under the promotional offer, the user can buy a Kindle and try it for up to 2 weeks. If post the 2 weeks the user is dissatisfied and does not wish to continue, (s)he can simply return the e-reader and get a complete refund. will be charged for the device upfront and should the customer decide to return it the refund will be made post the return within 3-5 days either by cheque or a bank transfer. The trial offer will be limited to only one device per customer.

There’s a popular fear of eye-strain and bad eyes associated with long hours of reading on e-readers. Also, the trend for paying for digitised versions of books, or e-books, is still to gin popularity in the country. While reading aficionados spend to the tune of thousands on hard-copies and paperbacks, when it comes to ebooks, there is still a fear and a restraint exercised on the wallet.

"We know from our experience around the world, that once the consumers experience the device, they love it! Their apprehensions of eye strain vanish and they quickly realise how it feeds their appetite for reading and how convenient it is to have instant access to any book they want to read or the ability to carry their favourite books with them at all times. We are committed to helping India read more and this is one tiny step towards that," said Devesh Khandelwal, Senior Product manager, Kindle India.

The offer is definitely tempting but will Kindle finally be able to gain popularity and a strong foothold in the country?

Monday, July 14, 2014

Kindle Fire HDX 7 16GB Price Drops to $149 – Christian Post

Picture: Amazon

Amazon Kindle Fire HDX

Free Sign Up CP Newsletter!

LG G Pad 8.3 Google Play Edition Android 4.4.4 Update Now Available

Amazon Fire Phone Specs, Features Revealed

Kindle Fire HDX 7 32GB Price Drops to $ 209, Find Out Where

By Vincent Funaro, Christian Post Reporter

July 10, 2014|8:47 am

The Kindle Fire HDX 7 16GB model’s price has dropped to $ 149.

This discount is being offered by Newegg through its eBay store. It is only available for the 16GB variant with special offers. This means that the tablet will display Amazon ads on the lockscreen. It is not a refurbished model and it’s covered under a one-year warrantee.

This is a pretty good deal as it undercuts Amazon’s best price by $ 80.

Amazon released the latest Kindle Fire line at the end of last year which includes the 7-inch and 8.9-inch HDX models.

The 7-inch HDX features a screen with a resolution of 1900 x 1200 at 323 ppi. The device also comes with a new quad-core 2.2GHz Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB RAM, Dolby Digital Plus audio, a 720p front-facing camera, and a new Adreno 330 GPU, with up to 11 hours of battery life. It can also be extended to 17 hours if it is used solely for reading.

It features the new Fire OS 3.0 “Mojito,” and an on-screen “Mayday button that enables live on-device tech support. It allows Amazon technical support to deal with any issue users of the tablet might be having with it through 24/7 one-way video support with tech agents that could remote control the device for support purposes.

The 8.9-inch model features the same specs with bigger display. The 7-inch model is normally priced at $ 229 with 16GB and $ 329 with 4G LTE connectivity.

Amazon also released a new version of the 7-inch 16GB Kindle Fire HD this year. This model features a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and sells for $ 169.

The Kindle Fire HDX is the successor to the original Kindle Fire line that launched in 2011. That model created the market for all of these new smaller low-end tablets.

‹

Breaking News From AD 33: You Cannot Cheat Death

›

John Boehner Is the Most Intelligent Man in Politics Today

Kindle Fire HDX 7 16GB Price Drops to $149 – Christian Post

Picture: Amazon

Amazon Kindle Fire HDX

Free Sign Up CP Newsletter!

LG G Pad 8.3 Google Play Edition Android 4.4.4 Update Now Available

Amazon Fire Phone Specs, Features Revealed

Kindle Fire HDX 7 32GB Price Drops to $ 209, Find Out Where

By Vincent Funaro, Christian Post Reporter

July 10, 2014|8:47 am

The Kindle Fire HDX 7 16GB model’s price has dropped to $ 149.

This is a pretty good deal as it undercuts Amazon’s best price by $ 80.

Amazon released the latest Kindle Fire line at the end of last year which includes the 7-inch and 8.9-inch HDX models.

The 8.9-inch model features the same specs with bigger display. The 7-inch model is normally priced at $ 229 with 16GB and $ 329 with 4G LTE connectivity.

Amazon also released a new version of the 7-inch 16GB Kindle Fire HD this year. This model features a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and sells for $ 169.

The Kindle Fire HDX is the successor to the original Kindle Fire line that launched in 2011. That model created the market for all of these new smaller low-end tablets.

‹

Breaking News From AD 33: You Cannot Cheat Death

›

John Boehner Is the Most Intelligent Man in Politics Today

Amazon India Announces 15-Day Trial Offer for Kindle Ebook Readers – NDTV

Amazon India, after launching its Kindle Cloud Reader Service in May this year, has introduced a new offer for its Indian ebook readers devices, along with a money-back guarantee. The offer is valid from July 8 till July 23.

According to Amazon, Indian consumers can order the All-New Kindle Paperwhite, All-New Kindle Paperwhite 3G or Kindle 6-inch Wi-Fi from the Amazon India Kindle Trial page, use it for 15 days, and then can return if they are unsatisfied, along with a full refund.

Amazon India also mentions that the money paid by users while ordering the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle 6 devices will be refunded (if users opts for the option) within 3-5 days via a cheque or bank transfer.

While the All-New Kindle Paperwhite and All-New Kindle Paperwhite 3G (Review | Pictures) are priced at Rs. 10,999 and Rs. 13,999 respectively, the Kindle 6-inch Wi-Fi model comes with a price tag of Rs. 5,999.

“We know from our experience around the world, that once the consumers experience the device, they love it! Their apprehensions of eye strain vanish and they quickly realise how it feeds their appetite for reading and how convenient it is to have instant access to any book they want to read or the ability to carry their favourite books with them at all times. We are committed to helping India read more and this is one tiny step towards that,” said Devesh Khandelwal, Senior Product manager, Kindle India in a press statement.

Amazon India, as mentioned above, also announced the launch of its Kindle Cloud Reader for India, a free to use app that lets users read books from their Kindle library directly on their computer. Users can access all their books when connected, and can download books from the library for reading offline. Books users are reading start to download automatically, but they can manually pin other books if they want to keep them on the PC whether they’ve been read recently or not.

Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 7 vs. Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 vs. Lg G Pad 8.3 … – StreetWise Tech

The Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 7

Amazon Kindle has always been struggling to make it big in the market. The design is not that inspiring. Who would complain its one cheap table? An addition to its product line is the Kindle Fire HDX 7. The Kindle has beveled edges. It has a boxy look. This design makes HDX 7 unique than its competitors. Once you hold it, you will have a comfortable feeling due to its beveled edges. However, it does need to have a wider grip when you are going to hold it with one hand.

Here are the features you will find on HDX 7: power button, speaker grills, Micro USB port, headset jack and volume controls. At the back portion, you will see the logo "Amazon". One thing about this tablet is that it only has a front-facing camera. There is no rear camera. This is kind of frustrating, especially to those who love taking photos.

As for the display it uses a 7-inch display, a 1920 x 1200 LCD screen. It definitely looks sharper than the rest of its competitors. It even matches well with the resolution of Nexus 7. The LCD panel gives off colors that are lively and even much cooler compared to its predecessor.

Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2

What stands out Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 from the rest is the very fact that it uses an artificial leather look. It even has stitched accents which give off a more toned down and sophisticated look. It is still made out of plastic. The difference is that it does feel a bit nicer compared to touching glossy coat. Another added feature of the design it has a metallic rim at the sides of Note Pro. This will make Galaxy Note have a premium look.

Its dimensions are 11.64 x 8.03 x 0.31 inches. This is a compact 12-inch tablet. Its closest competitor to date is Sony Vaio Tap 11. Its weight is about 26.56 oz. This is a Samsung offer to the public – the largest tablet. Additional accessory to Note Pro is the S Pen stylus. This is a great tool to do doodling and more. It's ergonomic plus it is so easy to use.

What makes Samsung stands out is the very fact it has a high resolution display and offers top notch outdoor visibility. Its resolution is about 2560×1600 and a pixel density of 247 ppi. Samsung is using what they call as "Super Clear LCD". The screen does have different modes of color presentations. You can get this from Note Pro's settings. You can choose to have Dynamic or Movie. The choice is all up to you. Overall, Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 is a great deal, especially those who love to use a large tablet sized at 12-inches.

LG G Pad 8.3

LG is now back in at its vengeance after it disappears in the limelight for creating its version of a tablet. The company became more ambitious and has released the LG G Pad 8.3. This is dubbed as a midsized tablet that will have Samsung Galaxy Note as its rival.

The company showcased same love and passion in creating G Pad 8.3. This tablet has a good looking exterior. It is on a mid-range. Its dimensions are 8.54 x 4.98 x 0.33 inches. Its weight is about 11.92 oz which makes it comfortable to hold. G Pad's back portion is made from aluminum. This makes it stylish at the same time elegant. The superb design does not end on its exterior it is even brought to its physical keys when you click you will be reassured that everything feels so right. Other features of the tablet consist of MicroUSB port and a MicroSD slot.

Now let's see what G Pad's display is. First, its size is about 8.3 inches for its display. Second, its resolution is about 1200 x 1920, and ppi density is about 273 ppi. What does this mean? The screen showcases to give out an output that is pixelization-free. This makes looking at the visuals, watching movies, images, playing games or reading content more enjoyable.

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Amazon sued over Kindle in-app purchases – Telegraph.co.uk

The dispute is over in-app charges in children’s games on Kindle devices, where it can sometimes be difficult to differentiate whether users are spending virtual or real currency to acquire virtual items. When it introduced in-app charges in 2011, a password was not required to make any purchase, from 99 cents to $ 99. That changed in 2012, when Amazon required a password for charges over $ 20. In 2013, the company updated password protection again, but in a way that allowed windows of time in which children could still make purchases, according to the FTC complaint.

Jessica Rich, FTC consumer protection director, said thousands of consumers had been affected and the unauthorised charges totaled millions of dollars.

“A central tenant in consumer protection is that you need to obtain consumer consent before placing charges on their bills,” she said. “That applies all places, from brick-and-mortar stores to app stores.”

The lawsuit seeks a court order requiring refunds to consumers for unauthorised charges. It also seeks to ban Amazon from billing account holders for in-app charges made without their consent.

Last week the FTC announced a similar lawsuit against T-Mobile. Federal regulators urged consumers to go through their phone bills line by line after the agency accused T-Mobile US of wrongly charging customers for premium services, like horoscope texts and ringtones, the customers never authorised.

The FTC settled with Apple over a similar matter for $ 32.5m in January.

Apple complained at the time. Tim Cook, chief executive, explained to employees in a memo that the settlement did not require the company to do anything it wasn’t doing already but he added that it “smacked of double jeopardy” because Apple had already settled a similar class-action lawsuit in which it agreed to refunds.

Amazon said last week its parental controls already go beyond what the FTC required from Apple as part of the settlement.

The complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington.

Amazon’s stock slipped $ 2.05 to close at $ 327.92 on Thursday.

Amazon sued over Kindle in-app purchases – Telegraph.co.uk

Jessica Rich, FTC consumer protection director, said thousands of consumers had been affected and the unauthorised charges totaled millions of dollars.

The lawsuit seeks a court order requiring refunds to consumers for unauthorised charges. It also seeks to ban Amazon from billing account holders for in-app charges made without their consent.

The FTC settled with Apple over a similar matter for $ 32.5m in January.

Amazon said last week its parental controls already go beyond what the FTC required from Apple as part of the settlement.

The complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington.

Amazon’s stock slipped $ 2.05 to close at $ 327.92 on Thursday.

Monday, July 7, 2014

Top 5 Best Kindle Paperwhite Accessories – Heavy.com

Published 1:24 pm EDT, July 7, 2014 By Tucker Cummings

222

kindle apps, kindle paperwhite, kindle paperwhite apps, new kindle paperwhite, kindle, amazon kindle, amazon apps

(Getty)

Love your Kindle Paperwhite? You should own these five accessories to get the most out of your Kindle experience.

1. Amazon Kindle 9W PowerFast Adapter for Accelerated Charging

Check out an unboxing video for this product in the video above.

TIME notes that the most recent version of the Paperwhite e-reader series offers "a new version of the E Ink technology, exclusive to Amazon, with 25 percent better contrast." However, if you want to keep that level of contrast, you'll need to keep the battery charged. An accessory like the PowerFast Charger has an obvious appeal. Optimized for all Kindle devices, this charger will fully power up your Kindlewhite in a mere four hours.

Buy it here.

Pros:

Faster charger than other options
Adapter's prongs conveniently fold for storage and travel
Kindle Paperwhite charges in 4 hours or less and Kindle in 3 hours or less
Reasonably priced
Huge time-saver
Cons:
Some users report that cheaper options exist that do the job just as well
Some users are annoyed this isn't the default charger you get with the Paperwhite
Annoying to have another accessory to lug around (for some)
Charger does not have any indictor lights on its exterior
Only comes in one boring color
2. Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Premium Combo Pack

(Importer520)

Importer 520 has a great combo pack of accessories. For those who prefer to make one purchase instead of three, this combo pack of wall charger, cable, and car charger is a real time-saver. Plus, it is quite an inexpensive purchase.

Buy it here.

Pros:
Won't break the bank
Takes the guesswork out of shopping
Saves time
Nice array of items for backup or primary use
Ships in frustration-free packaging
Cons:
Not the most renowned company
Not available in any "fun" colors
Claims to "condition" your battery may require further investigation
May not work with other electronic devices
Technical support not included
Share it.

Share Tweet Share Email

3. Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Leather Cover

Sign up for Heavy’s daily email and never miss out on our popular stories.

Get a closer look at this case in the video above.

A leather cover gives this premium e-reader an even more luxe look. This kind of cover just makes sense on a Paperwhite, as it evokes the leather cover of antique books. The Paperwhite leather cover comes in multiple colors.

Buy it here.

Pros:
Tons of color options
Feels nice in your hand
Premium design
Available in both standard and customizable
Secures your device without straps covering the front
Cons:
Won't fit any other Kindles
May stain over time if not handled with care
More expensive than synthetic materials
Cover feels heavy to some
Some users report cover interferes with refreshing pages
4. AmazonBasics Capacitive Stylus

(AmazonBasics)

If you don't want to get fingerprints and smudges all over your Kindle Paperwhite's screen, using a stylus is a great way to keep your screen looking pristine. This particular stylus is Amazon-made, and designed to coordinate with Amazon's other accessories.

Buy it here.

Pros:
Tons of options
Keeps screen tidy
Designed for Kindle Fire, Kindle Paperwhite, or Fire Phone
Stylus feels smooth and responsive
Reasonably priced
Cons:
Only comes in a single pack, not a multi-pack
Tip may wear down over time
Metal clip is handy, but may not appeal to all users
Easy to lose
Outside may not be comfortable to grip over long periods of time
5. Belkin MiXiT Car Charger

(Belkin)

Designed for charging both the Amazon Fire phone and all Kindle tablets, this series of brightly colored chargers is pleasing to the eye. Available in five candy-coated colors (along with basic black), the Belkin MiXiT charger includes a four foot Micro-USB to USB cable connector.

Buy it here.

Pros:
Nice bright colors
Long cable
Charger can be used with any USB 2.0 cable
Certified to be used with Amazon devices
Respected name in the tech accessories sphere
Cons:
Some user reviews complain about slow charging
Cable may not be long enough for some (this 10 foot alternative may suit instead)
A couple of users have reported getting defective units
Slightly more expensive than units from other makers
May be hard to get shipped outside of the US
Amazon Fire Phone vs. Galaxy S5: What's the Best Phone?

The Amazon Fire Phone has lots of smartphone shoppers intrigued, but can it stand up to the powerhouse that is the Samsung Galaxy S5?

Click here to read more

More Tech you need to know

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Related links:

Industries:

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Monday, July 14, 2014

Free Sign Up CP Newsletter!

Related

LG G Pad 8.3 Google Play Edition Android 4.4.4 Update Now Available

Amazon Fire Phone Specs, Features Revealed

Kindle Fire HDX 7 32GB Price Drops to $ 209, Find Out Where

Free Sign Up CP Newsletter!

Related

LG G Pad 8.3 Google Play Edition Android 4.4.4 Update Now Available

Amazon Fire Phone Specs, Features Revealed

Kindle Fire HDX 7 32GB Price Drops to $ 209, Find Out Where

The Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 7

Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2

LG G Pad 8.3

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Monday, July 7, 2014

1. Amazon Kindle 9W PowerFast Adapter for Accelerated Charging

Buy it here.

2. Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Premium Combo Pack

Buy it here.

Share it.

3. Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Leather Cover

Buy it here.

4. AmazonBasics Capacitive Stylus

Buy it here.

5. Belkin MiXiT Car Charger

Buy it here.

Amazon Fire Phone vs. Galaxy S5: What's the Best Phone?